Have you talked to G___ today?

G___ knows everything, sees everything.  G___ knows what you need for even before you finish asking.  G___ is everywhere, and you can ask G___ anything.

G___  has power beyond imagination, and G___ will always answer instantly and uber-abundantly.  G___ offers riches untold freely to all who ask, regardless of age, race, socioeconomic status or station in life.  G___ is always there to fill every need.

Of course I’m speaking of Google, not God.  But when you compare the ways we interact with each on a daily basis, how could you ever tell them apart?

You might be surprised to learn that one of the publications I read every month is Harvard Business Review. A few months ago, they dedicated an entire issue to failure – why it happens, how to learn from it, and – most importantly – why failure isn’t always as bad as we make it out to be.

Our culture criminalizes failure – that is, we usually equate failure with fault. Failure is wrong, and it must be punished. After all, don’t you usually assume failure is the result of a lack of planning, a lack of skill, or a lack of intelligence?

Some failure does of course result from carelessness, sabotage and sin – but sometimes failure is the most faithful expression of Christian discipleship.  Kavin Rowe points out that Jesus’ life and ministry ended in failure – and failure itself ” is intrinsic to Christian faith and forms an indispensable part of the distinctive Christian logic of death-resurrection”.

It is impossible to experience the power of Christ’s resurrection without the pain and emptiness of death.  The wind of the Spirit does not breathe new life into bones that insist on standing on their own, and Jesus did not call his disciples to preach to the world from a perch high atop the corporate ladder.

Have you failed today?

This article agrees with my last post about marketing in the church.  I especially like this line: “Marketers force you to clarify the mission and goals of your institution, do real homework about who you serve (rather than make assumptions about them) and ask effective questions about how best to serve them.”

Do you question anything in church anymore?  Are you stone-cold confident that everything you do at church helps advance the mission of your church?  Do you even know the mission of your church?

A lot of people don’t ask question in church because the status quo is generally a lot more comfortable.  Sometimes questions produce answers we don’t want to hear, and it’s just a whole lot easier to drown them out with busywork.

I guess it doesn’t matter, though – the world’s going to end again.  This Friday, in fact.  Be ready!